Inside Breezi Harrell and Leonardo Murri’s stunning Italian Wedding in Seaside, Florida
Every year, couples tie the knot in Seaside, Florida – but Breezi Harrell and her husband Leonardo Murri were the first to transform the town completely, making it their very own version of Italy.
Breezi met Leonardo, who’s from Italy, in Austin, Texas, right before 2020. When it came time to tie the knot this October, she knew she wanted to get married in Seaside, where they have a family home.
Breezi, who lives in Austin, Texas and does branding and website design for small businesses and luxury brands, wed Leonardo during a truly magical weekend that made Seaside into their own movie set.
When Breezi’s older sister Evan Harrell married David “H” Holland seven years ago at The Seaside Chapel and it was the largest wedding the area had seen, with more than 400 people flocking to 30A for the big day. Breezi had 200 guests, although her nuptials were just as unforgettable.
“We wanted everyone to have that full Seaside experience,” Breezi’s mom Willie Harrell told The Seaside Times. “Seaside is what has all the meaning for Breezi and Seaside’s in our hearts.”
On Thursday night, Leonardo started the weekend strong when he followed the Italian tradition La Serenata, which is when the groom serenades his bride the night before the wedding. Seventy-five guests secretly met at The Court to participate in the sweet serenade while sipping Italian champagne. After the songs ended, Leonardo’s family invited everyone over for homemade lasagna.
On Friday, Breezi and Leonardo celebrated with a rehearsal dinner at Modica Market, although it didn’t look anything like usual. Instead, the gourmet grocer was remade into its very own Italian escape, complete with its original red and white awnings, which were previously changed by Paramount Pictures in The Truman Show. The exterior of Town Square Shoes next door became Nonna’s Bakery.
Breezi grew up going to Modica Market and loved the motto “Life’s short, eat dessert first.” In fact, she so thoroughly embraced the saying that when the guests sat down at the dinner tables inside of the grocery store, they dined on warm olive oil cake inside of custom sardine boxes immediately.
Breezi and her mom went to the Fancy Food Show in New York City to find much of the merchandise that they ended up customizing.
They worked with Charlie Modica, a longtime friend of the family, to make all of their wedding fantasies become a reality. They also worked with the San Diego-based luxury wedding stylist Amorology.
The interior of Modica became unrecognizable for the Friday night festivities. Bowtie pasta shapes, oversized cloves of garlic, and red roses courtesy of San Diego florist Native Poppy Studio hung from the ceiling, making the interior decor look like it was a movie set. Native Poppy, known for its dramatic floral installations, shared a look inside on Instagram and the scene quickly went viral.
Marianna, Florida-based Southern Craft Creamery created custom handcrafted ice cream flavors for the event, including Leonardo’s Limoncello, That’s Amurri, Icing on the Cake, and Breezi’s Butterscotch.
Even the appetizers were meaningful to the couple. Leonardo’s mother sent a cookbook from Italy to Willie, and many of the appetizers, which were served up from behind the Modica counter, were based on the book, including Mozzarella in Carrozza, which translates to “mozzarella in a carriage.” Guests dined on the groom’s favorite pasta, spaghetti alle vongole, and sipped on Italian wine, pasta water martinis, and Aperol Spritzes. All day, people were making fresh pasta, which was hanging from the racks in Modica Market. Fittingly, during Breezi’s very first trip to visit Leonardo’s family in Italy his grandmother taught her how to make pasta. Wedding-goers shopped the customized wares, taking everything home in their bespoke bags.
Breezi runs a “Brews and Books” Instagram account where she shares snaps of her coffee and what she’s reading, so she wanted to pay homage to a few of her favorite things. The bar served espresso martinis during the meal, and afterwards guests could enjoy affogato for dessert.
There was a Frank Sinatra impersonator and a DJ spun Italian vinyl records to embrace the theme completely. Breezi wore a custom dress with the colors of the Italian flag and carried an Italian cookbook clutch from designer Olympia Le-Tan, who’s famous for her detailed reimaginings of books as bags. “Nothing was really that conventional,” Willie said.
Instead of attendees signing a guestbook, they wrote messages in a cookbook called Table for Two, which embraces the romance of everyday cooking.
On Saturday, the couple wed at the Seaside Chapel, with Breezi wearing a stunning custom gown covered in floral embellishments. Willie’s mother, who passed away when she was pregnant with Breezi, always loved daisies, and Breezi’s favorite flower is a daisy, so they made sure to pay a sweet tribute throughout the ceremony. The florist strung stunning daisy chains to decorate the chapel and the couple was showered with daisy petals when they left.
Breezi’s brother-in-law officiated and shocked the crowd when he asked Leonardo to recite his vows in Italian. He had secretly been learning the language for eight months so he could become fluent for the wedding. Leonardo’s family members had flown in from Italy and appreciated the heartwarming and surprising gesture.
Breezi attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and many of her friends came in for the event, so they all strolled from the wedding to the cocktail reception with a bagpipe playing.
The ceremony was followed by a cocktail reception devoted to their dog, Snacks. The Cocktail reception embraced Snacks with tennis balls, a bacon bar, bacon sliders, custom bacon ice cream sandwiches, Salty Dog cocktails, big buckets of Idyll Hounds beer, and custom dog bowls.
The guests then went to The Daytrader Tiki Bar & Restaurant for a party full of more one-of-a-kind experiences, including constant jaw-dropping cocktails coming out with the courses either smoking or with dry ice.
There was a steel drum player and a spinning wheel to win prizes like koozies, buzz buttons that leave an effervescent sensation in your mouth when you eat them, Daytrader hats or even shots. There was also an aura photo booth and a Las Vegas magician doing close-up magic tricks.
After the Daytrader party, guests visited the local favorite AJ’s Grayton Beach, where they were greeted with a full English breakfast at midnight to celebrate like they were still in Scotland.
Then, the happy couple jetted off on a Vespa to make their coastal Italian getaway complete.
